Climate Catastrophe

[Arminius]

@Kopstar

I seem to recall that the UK get more tornados per km² than anywhere else in the world.

Yes, I think that is right - forming fairly frequently, but less powerful and not as large as what we see in North America. No idea if the Vancouver one was more similar to UK ones

[Semmy]

@Noo_Noo

I always wondered why LPG never caught on more myself. I’m a fan and have two vehicles that can run on it. I’m not sure about the actual figures but it does produce less Co2 than petrol and diesel but I strongly suspect that those figures need to be adjusted for the less MPG or L/km you get from it.

my RV is from 1984 and runs on LPG. if tuned correctly it runs very clean and in my vehicle my mileage isn’t terrible. Unfortunately it’s really difficult to get a true reading on it as we live in a valley and it’s a big climb to get anywhere. I’d suspect 20-25L/100km for it, as it’s a 5000kg+ vehicle.

the price here is up to $1.00/L now for auto LPG.

[Semmy]

@redalways

Isn’t the problem now less of whether it’s renewable or not, but more of the emissions impact?

yes. I’d love an electric car but I don’t want to spend $50,000Cdn on one. so I’m living with what I’ve already paid for. I’ll run my Santa Fe for another 10 years if I can make it last that long. I don’t believe in flipping vehicles every few years.

[Noo_Noo]

I haven’t used it as much recently given that my daily driver with LPG is in the garage waiting for me to get some time to address a few issues. However, when I used to run back and forth, almost weekly from Reading to North Wales there was a time I was basically clocking about 10p a mile running cost with it. It was about 50-55 pence a litre at that time though. It’s a bit more now. Only issues I’ve ever had with it have been minor to be honest, it worked really well for me and I hope to get that van back on the road again.

I have also tentatively looked at electrical conversions. Sadly too costly at the moment.

[Semmy]

it’s been a very reliable vehicle. that said, it’s also nearing 40 years old and has literally zero modern technology in the drivetrain. Had an issue with it idling poorly in the spring, I took it into the shop who has been servicing it for 30 years and they serviced the mixer unit and reassembled it. $120 repair. I was a happy camper (no pun intended). changed the plugs and air filter, it runs like a champion. gotta love those old Chevrolet 5.7L small block engines, they’re bulletproof.

[redalways]

I was talking about the differences between diesel and petrol. I will agree with you though that the electric vehicle market is still a touch too immature for replacing most vehicles for now. Most of the interesting ones are still in the pipeline and not yet on the market, although that ought to change within the next couple of years.

[Semmy]

the 40% difference in consumption makes a huge difference between petrol and diesel.

if that was across the entire continent of 375,000,000 people (guessing 60% have petrol vehicles), it would make a huge impact.

edited for readibility

[redalways]

The consumption makes a difference to your wallet no doubt, but the question is, what about the pollution? It could well be that despite the extra fuel consumed, the pollution per mile is still lower, as is usually the case comparing like for like in the Euro emissions standards.

Depending on how it’s produced (not too familiar), it could well be that one barrel of crude oil produces much more petrol than diesel, for example, so that information is important in deciding if it’s an overall good. If your vehicle had another engine that used five times as much fuel volume per mile, but was a hydrogen vehicle, it would still be an overall good in that case (assuming it’s green hydrogen produced by hydrolysis through solar or something like that, other types of hydrogen will differ).

[Arminius]

@redalways

Depending on how it’s produced (not too familiar), it could well be that one barrel of crude oil produces much more petrol than diesel, for example, so that information is important in deciding if it’s an overall good.

A barrel of crude yields about 76 litres of petrol and about 45 of distillate fuel oil (diesel, marine oil, and furnace oil). The precise mix is a function of the process choice and the input grade, but the basic ratio will hold.

[redalways]

Thanks, is there any resource you have where I could learn more?

[Semmy]

Do Diesel Engines Produce Less CO2 Than Regular Engines?

and let’s not forget, with some minor alterations to the injectors and fuel system you can run a diesel engine off biofuel (corn oil)

[redalways]

Fair enough, I think I remembered it wrong, was looking at the CO emissions and it was more in line with what I was thinking. On the other hand though you still have the particulates and nitrogen oxides emissions, which are a concern for urban environments, although admittedly much less for somewhere like Canada, probably.

I think the North American problem is mainly down to an image problem regarding diesels (and therefore low demand) more than anything though?

[Noo_Noo]

Why does the US, Canada and Australia, to name 3 need cars with huge great engines?

[Semmy]

@Noo_Noo

Why does the US, Canada and Australia, to name 3 need cars with huge great engines?

I’ve no idea. Have never owned anything bigger than a 4cyl. had a 73 MGB, two Honda Civics and a Mazda Protege5 before the Santa Fe. bought the Santa Fe because we were renovating our house/yard and needed a vehicle that could haul a utility trailer for materials/dirt/gravel and taking yard waste to the farm. I can pull 1500kg load with it. and my fishing boat.

[Redbj]

i have a hilux 2.4 diesel.

i cant imagine something with a smaller donk doing what i need it to do, im not talking about what the car specs are, but the actual performance.

i could be convinced differently, IF there was a different option.

the family car is a honda, next one will be hybrid. my parents have the RAV and that seems like a great car.

[Noo_Noo]

I’m familiar with the Hilux having used them on site quite extensively. You’d be surprised what’s feasible in engines power wise. Many moons ago I was given a Rover Maestro as a company car. They were legend in the company I worked for with a 2.0l, 4 cyl turbo diesel. Everything was shocking about the car. Ugly, heavy, couldn’t corner but that engine was like a bloody rocket. Tough too.

Problem with engines today is the block and head are made with soft alloys and the manufacturers have twigged onto limiting their durability.

[Semmy]

@Redbj

i have a hilux 2.4 diesel.

i cant imagine something with a smaller donk doing what i need it to do, im not talking about what the car specs are, but the actual performance.

i could be convinced differently, IF there was a different option.

the family car is a honda, next one will be hybrid. my parents have the RAV and that seems like a great car.

I’d give my left testicle to get a new Hilux here with a diesel. I have a lot of friends who hunt for meat (deer/elk/moose/caribou) and they’d absolutely love if those were sold here.

[Arminius]

Quite like this historical responsibility video by CarbonBrief, although the role of LULUCF (land use/forestry leads to some perverse conclusions. It makes Canada look like it has been improving versus many countries, which is quite misleading.

Which countries are historically responsible for climate change?

[Arminius]

@redalways

Thanks, is there any resource you have where I could learn more?

Do you mean about crude oil processing, or the emissions attributions calculations (i.e. CO2e per 100km for various fuel types)?

[Klopptimist]

The thing with petrol (and I’m no chemist but I have seen a litre or two of it blow) is that you get a hell of a lot more energy out of it per storage volume than LPG. Then there’s the distribution network, rising costs etc etc.